C is for a lot less cookies

[reveal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7421924/

My beloved blue, furry monster — who sang “C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me” — is now advocating eating healthy. There’s even a new song — “A Cookie Is a Sometimes Food,” where Cookie Monster learns there are “anytime” foods and “sometimes” foods.

I think this is really cool. A friend of mine said he didn't like this, something about ruining his childhood, but I disagree.

I mean, kids are fat. People in general in America are fat. So Cookie Monster eats less cookies now and teaches kids about healthy eating. What's wrong with that?

When we drop my son off at daycare, he sits at the table and eats his snack (we drop him off at around 7:30 and they don't eat breakfast until 9). He always has yogurt and some kind of fruit (banana, apple, orange, peach, pear, etc). All the other kids at the table are eating pop-tarts, cookies, sugary drinks, just all kinds of non-healthy stuff.

So if you start telling them it's "ok" to eat this kind of junk food all the time they're going to develop bad habits. But if you tell them it's ok to eat sugary treats but only in moderation, like what they're trying to do with Cookie Monster, then you get a kid who has healthy eating habits and won't be at as much risk for heart disease, diabetes and the other bad things to which obese people are more privy.

Anyway, just thought I'd give up some "mad props" to Sesame Street.

 

[Mystery Man]

I mean, kids are fat. People in general in America are fat. So Cookie Monster eats less cookies now and teaches kids about healthy eating. What's wrong with that?

Kids are watching SS not parents. Children regardless of what they watch have no self control, and it is the job of parents to monitor when and what they put in their stomachs. Having the cookie monster change his diet isn't going to change that fact one way or the other.

When we drop my son off at daycare, he sits at the table and eats his snack (we drop him off at around 7:30 and they don't eat breakfast until 9). He always has yogurt and some kind of fruit (banana, apple, orange, peach, pear, etc). All the other kids at the table are eating pop-tarts, cookies, sugary drinks, just all kinds of non-healthy stuff.

You've proved you're own point here if it is regarding reponsible parenting (well done!) as opposed to lazy just throw it in the bag because the kid won't eat anything else parenting.

A four year old isn't going to say, "But mom, the cookie monster wouldn't eat that! You should take care of me better by making sure I have a more balance nutritious meal of fruits and vagetables." Not gonna happen!

Kids are fat because their parents use the TV as a baby sitter and feed them whatever they want rather than fight with them.

 

[reveal]

I agree it's up to the parents to decide what is best for their child, but Sesame Street teaches kids about things like counting, reading, sharing, getting along with others, etc. These are also things that parents teach their child and Sesame Street can be used as a tool to do so. Why not, then, also teach children about healthy eating habits from a young age? If a parent uses SS as a tool, then it helps them that much more in establishing said habits. If a parent simply sits the kid in front of the tv to use it as a babysitter, then at least the kid is learning about these healthy habits.

 

[Mystery Man]

I agree it's up to the parents to decide what is best for their child, but Sesame Street teaches kids about things like counting, reading, sharing, getting along with others, etc. These are also things that parents teach their child and Sesame Street can be used as a tool to do so. Why not, then, also teach children about healthy eating habits from a young age? If a parent uses SS as a tool, then it helps them that much more in establishing said habits. If a parent simply sits the kid in front of the tv to use it as a babysitter, then at least the kid is learning about these healthy habits.

I'll agree up to a certain point that yes it will get inside their heads but I'll bet you 10,000 dollars on what a 4 year old will pick without parental intervention if you set a bowl of healthy food next to a plate of rice crispy cookies.

Edit: I know what I would have picked, hell I know what I'd still pick.

 

[reveal]

Edit: I know what I would have picked, hell I know what I'd still pick.

You and me both.

 

[Torm]

Me, too. Unless the healthy food were homemade pizza, and then it would depend on what mood I was in.

 

[Desdichado]

As I said in the earlier thread on this same topic:

There are some things on which Sesame Street can realistically hope to make an impact, and then there's tilting at windmills. If parents aren't teaching healthy eating, Cookie Monster sure ain't gonna. Cookie Monster loses a big part of what makes him an endearing, nationally loved character today.

Spoken as someone who has rail-thin kids who find Sesame Street boring, of course. So I'm not too concerned about it. When Shaggy and Scooby start eating healthy, I'll be in an uproar, though. Luckily, they advocate a pretty active lifestyle. Running away from ghosts and monsters keeps both pretty svelte.

 

[Torm]

When Shaggy and Scooby start eating healthy, I'll be in an uproar, though. Luckily, they advocate a pretty active lifestyle. Running away from ghosts and monsters keeps both pretty svelte.

And if they ever take away the smoke that comes from the Mystery Machine in places other than those where the van itself would ever emit anything, that'd be a pretty huge character change, too. There's a reason those two are so hungry all the time.

 

[Desdichado]

And if they ever take away the smoke that comes from the Mystery Machine in places other than those where the van itself would ever emit anything, that'd be a pretty huge character change, too. There's a reason those two are so hungry all the time.

Not to mention Fred and Daphne sneaking off alone together all the time. The more I think about it, the more I'm not sure I want my kids watching Scooby Doo after all...

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I don't see why they had to change his character to make the point. Why not keep him the same and just have other more level-headed characters calm him down and explain why he should control himself more... even though he never does. That would be fun, cool and remain true to the character. I don't know about him becoming a spokesman for healthy eating.